On several occasions different films have provoked diverse reactions due to the themes they handle. Whether associated or not with political allegories, 'Joker' has given rise to several questions about Joaquin Phoenix's character which ended in him abandoning an interview due to these aforementioned links.
Joaquin Phoenix would abandon his interview after having been asked by The Telegraph about whether the film in which he starred could generated a "perverse" influence on violet acts in real life. The actor only managed to respond "Why would you say that? No, no...", before returning an hour later to state that it was a question that had never crossed his mind. Although on more than one occasion the production team affirmed that the film is not a political flick, it seems that it is impossible to let go of this controversy. "I believe that films are oftentimes mirrors of society, but never molders", commented Todd Phillips. "It's about the lack of empathy that we were seeing in the world at the time we wrote it," the director concluded, making it clear that, although the film has political hues to it, this does not mean that it is intended as a political statement, but as a show of empathy.
'Joker' was widely acclaimed on the European cultural circuits as the winner of the Venice Film Festival during which, upon winning the prize, the film was treated to an 8-minute long ovation. Ironically, even amidst its professional success, there are several doubts surrounding whether "the film sympathises with a murderer in a context in which, as much in America as in the rest of the world, there is a huge amount of armed violence".
Will we get a sequel?
Almost every film we know that enjoys such early success starts planning rapidly for any further instalments. There have been many highly-regarded franchises this past century and with 'Joker', we can hope for more of the same. However, in an interview with Todd Phillips for IGN, it seems that we'll have to be content with just the one film. "I will do anything Joaquin wants to do. And I would. But the movie's not set up to (have) a sequel. We always pitched it as one movie, and that's it".
'Joker' will hit UK cinemas on the 4th October 2019.
